Some of the best documented historical events ever have a vocal minority of people who either believe that what happened is not the whole story or fabricated out of whole cloth. Crazy people are crazy.

jso2897:When , exactly, did people who call themselves "conservatives" become collectivists? I thought that collectivism was the philosophy of the Communist Reds.And yet, today, I see people who argue for individualism being called "Liberals". and those who argue that people should be evaluated as members of the collective to which they belong calling themselves "conservatives". Weird.Ayn Rand described the racist, or religious or nationalist bigot as a "barnyard collectivist" - and yet, today, the American rightist seems PROUD of his barnyard collectivism. The mentality of a person who can tell people apart by "race", or religion - buit is unable to distinguish between individual human beings.Odd.

The number of American conservatives who have actually read AND understood Rand's works is very, very low.

Some of the best documented historical events ever have a vocal minority of people who either believe that what happened is not the whole story or fabricated out of whole cloth. Crazy people are crazy.

Wednesday:I'm not saying it's those two kids in track suits at the Marathon...but it's them. What? They look Middle Eastern you say? Had not really noticed, I'm just looking at the evidence.

Thursday:Not the kids. Well, hey...did you hear the one about the college kid who disappeared about a month ago? (I was actually guilty of this one toward the end of the day)

Thursday Night:H-O-L-Y CRAP!!! It's just terrible everything that's happening but I just can't stop listening to the scanner. This is more riveting than any action movie I have ever seen, EVER!

Friday:What's taking so long? Why don't they search where he is instead of where he's not? How did he get away so long? He's probably dead. Scanner? Not as good as Thursday night but not bad, plus we got him. Yea!

Saturday:Martial Law!!! Government sucks, yeah we got the guy but so what? They had to ASK permission to enter and search people's houses. Damn if I'll let some cop in my house to search for a madman on the loose in my city. If they don't specifically have evidence showing him curled up behind my couch then I ain't letting them in. If he is here, well then hell, I would take care of it myself.

Sunday:God's day. We rest.

Monday:The Government sucks! No Miranda! They took to long!

Jeez, are you people every happy!

Tuesday:

Drawing the conclusion that those two did the bombing from video and photos of the marathon is racial profiling.

You may not like it (and I find it distasteful as well), but what these people are doing is helping keep america free. When these "fringe" groups go silent (are silenced), that's when it's time to pack your bags to leave the country.

luxup:"But their uncle Ruslan Tsarni said the mother was a bad influence on her sons, and introduced them to Islamic fundametalism by inviting a hardline cleric to give inflammatory lessons at the family's kitchen table."

That wouldn't surprise me. How often does a good parent raise a couple of sociopaths or murderers? I'm sure it happens, but I doubt it's common. With one kid I could see it being an anomaly, but with both I'm gonna take a good hard look at whoever raised them.

As far as avoiding friends for a year, I have not seen that. You sure you're not thinking of the older one? He stopped going to his gym and socializing with people quite awhile go.The younger one, there are friends that saw him just the other day, before and after the bombings. He may have fallen out of communication with some older friends (he just graduated in 2011, how many of us keep up with all our hs friends?) but that's pretty normal. He still had friends at college as far as I can tell, and they were regular kids, not radicals.

Some of the best documented historical events ever have a vocal minority of people who either believe that what happened is not the whole story or fabricated out of whole cloth. Crazy people are crazy.

Two of these are not the same as the third.

Yup. The moon landing was an inside job. The government was behind the whole thing.

duenor:You may not like it (and I find it distasteful as well), but what these people are doing is helping keep america free. When these "fringe" groups go silent (are silenced), that's when it's time to pack your bags to leave the country.

Yeah, that's true - and after the age of fifty or so, regular coloscopies are probably a good idea.But they're still a pain in the ass.

This Face Left Blank:bunner: This Face Left Blank: If this were a just world, stupidity would be painful in groups, everybody would agree with me!

Did you RTFA? Some of them are saying the bombing was FAKED. Go on and defend that as not intensely stupid. Do it. There's room on my ignore list, and I have no issues ignoring people that would defend that patently insane idea. In fact, I wish everyone who was that idiotic would so clearly show themselves to be.

I'm not defending this sh*tbag, I'm attacking the dismissive, insulting rhetoric that is the precise flavor of hate these jerks sell.

LordJiro:Just Another OC Homeless Guy: nmrsnr: Am I supposed to be surprised?

JFK assassinationMoon Landing9/11

Some of the best documented historical events ever have a vocal minority of people who either believe that what happened is not the whole story or fabricated out of whole cloth. Crazy people are crazy.

4) If you watch the PBS Frontline documentary, "Angel on Death Row", the relationship between spiritual advisors and the capital murderers is very close, often couched in romantic terms. FYI, the murderer Robert Lee Willie was the real life model for the lead character in Dead Man Walking. Sister Helen Prejean became a celebrity after this documentary.

If you google "prison pen pals" or "death row pen pals", there are quite a few search results.

No matter how heinous the crime, there are going to be groupies for the offender:

1) Ted Bundy had death row groupies.

2) Joran Van der Sloot actually managed to impregnate a third woman while incarcerated for murdering another, and suspected in yet a second murder.

3) Lyle and Erik Menendez were married to women on the outside, while in prison.

4) If you watch the PBS Frontline documentary, "Angel on Death Row", the relationship between spiritual advisors and the capital murderers is very close, often couched in romantic terms. FYI, the murderer Robert Lee Willie was the real life model for the lead character in Dead Man Walking. Sister Helen Prejean became a celebrity after this documentary.

If you google "prison pen pals" or "death row pen pals", there are quite a few search results.

JungleBoogie:1) As far as actual culpability goes, Dzhokhar's supporters - like his mother - will say the evidence is ALL fake, ALL made up, an elaborate conspiracy to frame. Considering the mountain of evidence, it's probably not a bad tactic for a defense attorney.

2) However, for those of us without actual access to question the actual investigators, and without personally auditing the crime lab, there is this data point:

• When the fellow in the blue track suit was accused of being the terrorist, he posted "OMG, I'm going to the courthouse right away, you'll see I didn't do anything!" And was duly ruled out as a suspect.

• Dzhokhar on the other hand, got into a gun battle with police when they tried to stop him, and fled the scene where his brother was killed. Instead of turning himself in, in the first place. Additionally, he held the police at bay when they finally cornered him.

Quite a stark difference between in responses between someone who is innocent and someone who is guilty.

His mother lived in Soviet Chechnya. That's why she thinks the government is full of shiat. When the government lies to the people, everything is a possible conspiracy.

bunner:This Face Left Blank: bunner: This Face Left Blank: If this were a just world, stupidity would be painful in groups, everybody would agree with me!

Did you RTFA? Some of them are saying the bombing was FAKED. Go on and defend that as not intensely stupid. Do it. There's room on my ignore list, and I have no issues ignoring people that would defend that patently insane idea. In fact, I wish everyone who was that idiotic would so clearly show themselves to be.

I'm not defending this sh*tbag, I'm attacking the dismissive, insulting rhetoric that is the precise flavor of hate these jerks sell.

Oh. I really didn't see that at all. Apologies./Had you Farkied as pretty reasonable, so was surprised by it anyway.

duenor:You may not like it (and I find it distasteful as well), but what these people are doing is helping keep america free. When these "fringe" groups go silent (are silenced), that's when it's time to pack your bags to leave the country.

Um, no. It's a bit like saying that viruses help keep us healthy. I get what you are trying to say but the time and effort that is being wasted by these 'fringe' groups is hurting the country. Like with a virus, better to neutralize it and concentrate on overall health.

As it is they are pandered too to the point that intelligent people in power can't make a common sense decision. For example, when a politician is more worried about a fringe group of gun supporters we have a problem.

I believe that if these fringe groups could display some common sense or can actually be consistently defeated politically, then that's when we will see the type of America we can all be proud of.

Esn:The bombing was a heinous act and the person responsible should be punished.

I haven't been following the story very closely, so I'm not really sure if he's guilty or not. Does anyone know of a good site with a full rundown of the evidence proving that he's the one responsible (with his brother)?

Also, is there a place where the claims of these skeptics are debunked?

Unfortunately, the terrorist did succeed in causing enormous damage out of all proportion to the resources put in. Something like $333 million.

It's called a courtroom. You'll see all the evidence against him since he gets a public trial just like every other common criminal. He's a murdering baffoon, not an anti-government activist.

Religion is a poison, delivered upon the weak, in need of food, hope and future. Instead they are given a false ideal, that fills no bellys, provides no future and delivers nothing but profit to the liars and prophets of the falsehood. This works for any. Catholics, xtians, muslims, buddhdists.....it is an endless litany in human history of the weak oppressed by the powerful who will do anything to sustain the lie. If you're religious and you feel offended? Sorry. I believe in something bigger than any book, label or dogma. It has no leader, prophet or label. Think about that.

jso2897:When , exactly, did people who call themselves "conservatives" become collectivists? I thought that collectivism was the philosophy of the Communist Reds.And yet, today, I see people who argue for individualism being called "Liberals". and those who argue that people should be evaluated as members of the collective to which they belong calling themselves "conservatives". Weird.Ayn Rand described the racist, or religious or nationalist bigot as a "barnyard collectivist" - and yet, today, the American rightist seems PROUD of his barnyard collectivism. The mentality of a person who can tell people apart by "race", or religion - buit is unable to distinguish between individual human beings.Odd.

I had no idea that liberals were against affirmative action, hate crime laws, and other legislation that is based on identifying from the collective to which a person belongs instead of individuality. Tell me more about it.

Also, please tell me more about the individualistic tax policy advocated by liberals that makes no distinction between so called class.

And while you're at it please tell me about how liberals opposed new sweeping national gun control measures affecting everyone because of the actions of a few individuals.

The younger one, there are friends that saw him just the other day, before and after the bombings. He may have fallen out of communication with some older friends (he just graduated in 2011, how many of us keep up with all our hs friends?) but that's pretty normal. He still had friends at college as far as I can tell, and they were regular kids, not radicals.

That must have been it. I was basing that on the reports I read just as we were finding out who he was before they started interviewing his college...I don't want to call them friends but, you know what I mean.

Ihaveanevilparrot:Charming attractive guy, so much so that has friends had no idea he was remotely capable of doing anything bad to people at all, and didn't say anything even when they saw the pics and it looked just like him.And even people online try to make all kinds of excuses for him "He's just a kid, his brother probably brainwashed him, maybe he didn't even know what was going on."Why? Because nothing on his twitter feed or anything his friends have said shows he's anything but a regular young kid. He's not. No doubt he's good at acting the part, but he comes off as way too "normal" for it to be genuine, yet still do what he did.In fact I think there may even be a chance he used his brothers radicalization to convince HIM to go through with the acts. His brother seemed somewhat impulsive and alienated, but he was pretty transparent, even attracting fbi attention - not cunning. Everyone knew something was amiss with him, even if they didn't think he'd go this far, and the fact that he ended up with domestic violence charges also shows impulsive behavior. However, the younger brother seems very intelligent, and had everyone convinced he was practically a saint.

I've seen the vid and the way he was smiling and acting calm, even after the blast, along with how he totally snowed his friends and family into thinking he was this sweet and fine upstanding young man, convinces me that he is likely a sociopath. A true sociopath you'll almost never suspect is capable of anything until they get caught red handed. Add some narcissism in and it explains the whole backward hat not even trying to really hide identity "try and catch me" thing. He even went back to school and acted absolutely normal after the bombing, other than a friend saying he seemed a little down. That's not the mark of someone that accidentally got caught up in his brothers crap and didn't know what was going. It's the behavior or someone who is used to putting on an act for the public.

Lt. Cheese Weasel:Religion is a poison, delivered upon the weak, in need of food, hope and future. Instead they are given a false ideal, that fills no bellys, provides no future and delivers nothing but profit to the liars and prophets of the falsehood. This works for any. Catholics, xtians, muslims, buddhdists.....it is an endless litany in human history of the weak oppressed by the powerful who will do anything to sustain the lie. If you're religious and you feel offended? Sorry. I believe in something bigger than any book, label or dogma. It has no leader, prophet or label. Think about that.

CSB!

We could have an article about catsup and someone will comment about how religion is bad. Everyone here gets it. Next time try to tie into the story, article or other comments.

Lt. Cheese Weasel:Religion is a poison, delivered upon the weak, in need of food, hope and future. Instead they are given a false ideal, that fills no bellys, provides no future and delivers nothing but profit to the liars and prophets of the falsehood. This works for any. Catholics, xtians, muslims, buddhdists.....it is an endless litany in human history of the weak oppressed by the powerful who will do anything to sustain the lie. If you're religious and you feel offended? Sorry. I believe in something bigger than any book, label or dogma. It has no leader, prophet or label. Think about that.

He's cute and young. And looks like a cross between a baby Bob Dylan and a puppy. In a boy band, he would be the pretty one. So, this happening is no surprise to me.

If was 58 and looked like shaved scrotum, his "fanbase" would barely be a blip.

You could have a photo of this kid holding up a sign saying "I did it!" With him standing over the victims, pointing and laughing and people would still claim he is innocent because, again, he "doesn't look the type." That and other people will believe that the government is behind everything bad that happens to the country. Whether it's a bombing or the soda machine swallowing up your change.

/and if you think twitter is bad, stay off of tumblr//he's got fangirls AND fanboys by the bucket full

Lt. Cheese Weasel:Religion is a poison, delivered upon the weak, in need of food, hope and future. Instead they are given a false ideal, that fills no bellys, provides no future and delivers nothing but profit to the liars and prophets of the falsehood. This works for any. Catholics, xtians, muslims, buddhdists.....it is an endless litany in human history of the weak oppressed by the powerful who will do anything to sustain the lie. If you're religious and you feel offended? Sorry. I believe in something bigger than any book, label or dogma. It has no leader, prophet or label. Think about that.

So the Americans in the Bible belt that are obese, and/or drive to church in an SUV, are doing it because they're in need of food. I had no idea.

badhatharry:His mother lived in Soviet Chechnya. That's why she thinks the government is full of shiat. When the government lies to the people, everything is a possible conspiracy.

Yeah, I don't actually blame his parents. They grew up in an environment where it was necessary to disbelieve the local government, news and official narrative just to survive. So this doesn't surprise me at all.

USP .45:jso2897: When , exactly, did people who call themselves "conservatives" become collectivists? I thought that collectivism was the philosophy of the Communist Reds.And yet, today, I see people who argue for individualism being called "Liberals". and those who argue that people should be evaluated as members of the collective to which they belong calling themselves "conservatives". Weird.Ayn Rand described the racist, or religious or nationalist bigot as a "barnyard collectivist" - and yet, today, the American rightist seems PROUD of his barnyard collectivism. The mentality of a person who can tell people apart by "race", or religion - buit is unable to distinguish between individual human beings.Odd.

I had no idea that liberals were against affirmative action, hate crime laws, and other legislation that is based on identifying from the collective to which a person belongs instead of individuality. Tell me more about it.

Also, please tell me more about the individualistic tax policy advocated by liberals that makes no distinction between so called class.

And while you're at it please tell me about how liberals opposed new sweeping national gun control measures affecting everyone because of the actions of a few individuals.

Tell me how pro-individual you are.

So: You think it's a big deal that somebody blew up some people because thay think "Allah" is important. But it doesn't bother you that somebody blew up more people because thy thought "profit" was important.Plus: Your mother is a whore.

jso2897:When , exactly, did people who call themselves "conservatives" become collectivists? I thought that collectivism was the philosophy of the Communist Reds.And yet, today, I see people who argue for individualism being called "Liberals". and those who argue that people should be evaluated as members of the collective to which they belong calling themselves "conservatives". Weird.Ayn Rand described the racist, or religious or nationalist bigot as a "barnyard collectivist" - and yet, today, the American rightist seems PROUD of his barnyard collectivism. The mentality of a person who can tell people apart by "race", or religion - buit is unable to distinguish between individual human beings.Odd.

randomjsa:jso2897: When , exactly, did people who call themselves "conservatives" become collectivists? I thought that collectivism was the philosophy of the Communist Reds.And yet, today, I see people who argue for individualism being called "Liberals". and those who argue that people should be evaluated as members of the collective to which they belong calling themselves "conservatives". Weird.Ayn Rand described the racist, or religious or nationalist bigot as a "barnyard collectivist" - and yet, today, the American rightist seems PROUD of his barnyard collectivism. The mentality of a person who can tell people apart by "race", or religion - buit is unable to distinguish between individual human beings.Odd.

Islamic militants are the very definition of conspiracy theorists, which is why conspiracy theorists in general often blur the line between utterly stupid and monumentally dangerous. Make no mistake - the same folks that scream this a false flag are the same folks who believe in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and that 9/11 was orchestrated by George Bush and/or Mossad. Alex Jones and the vast majority of fundie clerics are similar in this regard. The only difference is that Islamists back up their delusions by killing people, and these other folks back up their delusions by killing people's brain cells.

Somacandra:badhatharry: His mother lived in Soviet Chechnya. That's why she thinks the government is full of shiat. When the government lies to the people, everything is a possible conspiracy.

Yeah, I don't actually blame his parents. They grew up in an environment where it was necessary to disbelieve the local government, news and official narrative just to survive. So this doesn't surprise me at all.

Grew up? Fun fact that evetyome seems to have missed - the Russian crackdown in Chechnya over the past 20 years is actually taught in US colleges as an example of terrorism conducted by a state actor.